What’s interesting about ‘Gossip Girl’ is that – in its
initial setup – Blake Lively’s Serena was supposed to be the center of
attention. By extension, her romance with Dan was supposed to be the heart of the
show.

No, no one would argue that Blair was a great role model or
a nice person, but there was something in Meester’s zippy portrayal of the
self-avowed snob that made her likeable – despite the horrible things she did.

Sure, you rooted for Blair to fall on her face whenever she
hatched one of her schemes. You also rooted for her to pick herself right back
up and start scheming all over again.

The original “fight” between Serena and Blair was over Chase
Crawford’s Nate. Essentially, he was Blair’s boyfriend and Serena’s fling. The
only problem is that Nate Archibald could be the most boring character ever put
to the small screen.

In Crawford’s talentless hands, Nate is nothing but a flat
caricature of a character. Sure, he’s great to look at, but what has Nate’s
overall contribution to the show been?

It’s interesting that Ed Westwick’s Chuck Bass actually
became the leading man of the show, because when he was first introduced he was
essentially the fifth wheel to Serena and Dan and Blair and Nate.

Somehow, inexplicably, the unlikely pairing of Chuck and
Blair is what actually gave ‘Gossip Girl’ the only recognition it ever really
earned. In essence, the show was about an unlikely “super couple” and the
schemes they planned.

I know there are a group of people out there that are going
to freak out because they believe that Chuck Bass is evil and that Dan Humphrey
is the man for Blair – but they’re really just a vocal (read: whiny) minority.

The truth is NONE of the characters on ‘Gossip Girl’ are
better than the others. They’ve all got some sort of issue – whether it’s
actually an identifiable personality problem or not is a subjective thing.

‘Gossip Girl’ was at its best in the second and third
seasons, when it was building off the only momentum it ever managed to drum up.
It’s been fading ever since.

‘Gossip Girl’ never managed to build solid characters
outside of the core five – and it’s arguable that two of the members of the fab
five are really just flat caricatures. It never managed to build a solid
mythology it didn’t blow up. It also never managed to make any one character
likeable more than 50 percent of the time.

In fact, 'Gossip Girl' had one central problem that kept plaguing it throughout its entire run: Continuity. I mean, Bart Bass went from a distant father to a total sociopath. So did Vanessa Abrams, as a matter of fact. Whatever happened to Rufus and Lily's love child? I mean, 'Gossip Girl' had so many holes you could drive a million trucks through them.

What the show did do, though, is show us fabulous clothes, a gorgeous New
York skyline and some pretty entertaining music from time-to-time.

When ‘Gossip Girl’ says goodbye on Monday, I won’t remember
most of the show. When I think back on ‘Gossip Girl,’ I think the only thing
that can ever be said is that Chuck and Blair were really hot. I don’t care
that Dan’s mountain of moppet hair loving fans are going to wine and complain.
I don’t care that the Chuck Bass haters are going to scream and stomp their
feet and cry that Chuck Bass was an abusive hedonist.

‘Gossip Girl’ is not about the realistic. I wouldn’t want to
know any of these people in real life. That doesn’t stop me from rooting for
Chuck and Blair to get their faux happily ever after.

I never got my happy ending for Brandon and Kelly, Slater
and Jessie or Dylan and Brenda – but I will get my happy ending for Chuck and
Blair.

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About Me

Amanda Lee is a sports reporter and internet editor for The Macomb Daily. An avid entertainment enthusiast, Lee will give her take on books, movies, music, television, technology, games, sports and even soap operas.
Lee is also the author of 11 books in three different series – including the Avery Shaw mysteries, Wicked Witches of the Midwest and Covenant College series. A fourth series about the everyday strife associated with being a grim reaper, will hit shelves later this summer.